Question For Baltimore Area Natives (crime, school, universities)

[ActualUDResident]

Given all of the influence seeming to spread from DC in multiple ways and the combination in the minds of many outside of your region of the DC and Baltimore regions into one DC-run region, do you feel DC's influence is overtaking and chipping away at the Baltimore identity and its culture? I have been wondering this for awhile but have never seen it mentioned anywhere.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by ActualUDResident

Given all of the influence seeming to spread from DC in multiple ways ...
do you feel DC's influence is overtaking and chipping away at the Baltimore identity and its culture?

No. Certainly not on the causal basis as you describe it here.

DC has had an outsized role in the region since forever; certainly the mid 1800's.
But it's influence was almost entirely about and among the people who looked TO the district
with almost that entire contingent being financially dependent on government and professions.

Baltimore otoh was always a VERY successful trade and industrial center with a long and broad
cultural and social history of local ownership and influence which was almost entirely about and
among the people who looked TO those trade and industrial entities for "leadership".

So... the "overtaking and chipping away" you ask about is NOT about DC 'succeeding' per se...
it's almost entirely about Baltimore LOSING the power and influence of their local trade and industrial entities.

I have been wondering this for awhile but have never seen it mentioned anywhere.

Pay better attention. It gets hashed out almost quarterly.

[pappjohn]

Baltimore is in a democratically induced decline. DC has better policing and is holding up better. BALTIMORE is a major drug haven, with increasing crime, corrupt democrat judges and a bleak future.

[choccity]

No, the two cities are so different being 1 hour away. Baltimore with more blue-collar jobs and hospital jobs.

DC is the nations capital with the federal government being the biggest employer. MD has about 150K federal workers too. DC is not chipping away at Baltimore's identity and culture. Never have there been two more different cities, separate from each other in every way. I don't know why people always want to compare these two cities, I guess cause of the close proximity.

The daily homicides and crime in Baltimore are hindering it's growth. There has to be a decision made, from someone, to decide which way this city's growth goes or not.

The residents need something else besides the Ravens.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by choccity

There has to be a decision made

The decision was to spend ~$50 a year on some common latex products... or not to.
Too many chose not to.

[pappjohn]

Democrats have built a system stacked against minorities and working class people. Ilegal immigrants are allowed to steal jobs and increase taxes on the taxpayers. Baltimore is doing badly and DC will also.

[Tinawina]

Originally Posted by choccity

The daily homicides and crime in Baltimore are hindering it's growth. There has to be a decision made, from someone, to decide which way this city's growth goes or not.

What I keep hearing on the street is that everyone knows who the major sources of crime are, its just that they don't get arrested or if they do, they are not charged with anything major enough to keep them in jail. Does anyone know if that's true?

It seems like a policing strategy that targeted repreat violent offenders and gang leadership would make the most sense (while simultaeously stepping up youth after school programs/gang prevention efforts) but who the hell knows whats going on with the Baltimore Police force these days. SMH

[LesLucid]

Originally Posted by Tinawina

What I keep hearing on the street is that everyone knows who the major sources of crime are, its just that they don't get arrested or if they do, they are not charged with anything major enough to keep them in jail. Does anyone know if that's true?

It seems like a policing strategy that targeted repreat violent offenders and gang leadership would make the most sense (while simultaeously stepping up youth after school programs/gang prevention efforts) but who the hell knows whats going on with the Baltimore Police force these days. SMH

Baltimore is not the only place that suffers from revolving door criminals. Recidivism is a national problem. My suspicion is that some of it is laziness, plea bargaining stuff away so they can get some sort of conviction quickly and clear the case but it puts a criminal right back on the streets too quickly.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by Tinawina

It seems like a policing strategy that targeted repeat violent offenders and gang leadership...

Except for the chaos that shows up with the leadership vacuum that follows on.
The cure has often been shown to be worse than the disease.

...but who the hell knows whats going on with the Baltimore Police force these days

This as they say is a whole other matter.
I'd be curious to read whatever David Simon has written about the new guy.

[rayfor1]

Originally Posted by ActualUDResident

Given all of the influence seeming to spread from DC in multiple ways and the combination in the minds of many outside of your region of the DC and Baltimore regions into one DC-run region, do you feel DC's influence is overtaking and chipping away at the Baltimore identity and its culture? I have been wondering this for awhile but have never seen it mentioned anywhere.

Baltimore has its problems. Tons of them. And the major one, crime, has definitely taken its toll on the city for the past couple of decades. However, it does not mean that it's vulnerable to losing itself. Baltimore has a decent jobs base, good amount of colleges/universities = decent millennial/young professional growth, suburbs/outer counties that are affluent and doing well, and as a metropolis, it's actually growing albeit slowly (believe it or not lol). It has a good amount of culture, history, and amenities that makes the city interesting. It's in a strategic location that, if it had the right governance to take advantage of it, it could easily steal some of the growth that's going to DC, Northern VA, and even in to the burbs in its own area.

That being said, to answer your question more precisely, no I don't think that DC's influence is overtaking and chipping away at Baltimore's identity. I've lived (and currently in both cities. They are different. Baltimore feels more like Philly, NYC, and Boston. Urban, tough, gritty...it feels like a true northeastern city with some overtones of southernness (I guess its what makes it the true mid-atlantic city in my opinion). Its economic base is predominantly blue-collar working class sectors. It has some white collar jobs but they're based in the "eds and meds" sectors and a bit in government and finance. Its got a decent but quickly growing arts and creative scene. DC similarly is a northeastern city but not in the same sense that the other four main northeast cities. It definitely has a lot of northeast qualities but there are times when I drive or walk through it (especially in the downtown area) and it feels more like a really urban and dense Atlanta or Charlotte than it does Baltimore or Philadelphia. Its economy is predominantly white-collar with most of its job base in the government sector but also has a strong finance and health. It has a good and growing tech scene and an okay arts/creative scene (I kinda like Baltimore's better). DC also has a sh*t ton of things to do (more that probably any city on the east coast except for NYC). It has fine museums and galleries, better restaurants, and major national/international events (that sadly bypasses Baltimore). It also has a better a better-run government that Baltimore and gets more investment pumped in to it due to the federal government. It allows it to do things that Baltimore and most other cities in the country can only even dream of doing. However, city-wise, Baltimore feels much more authentic and organic than DC. DC growth feels more forced which makes it come off as sterile in parts. For mean DC is a livelier city than Baltimore and overall is getting better but its downtown is still 9-5 for the most part. Everything else happens outside the CBD. Baltimore, though cannot compare to DC, is underrated and I my opinion does being a city better than DC. Its got an authentic culture that DC never really had. Whatever is had is currently being eroded by the out-of-towners, the internationals, and the big money corporations that is chasing out the locals in the name of gentrification.

The two cities share some similarities simply due to proximity but for two cities that are so close to each other and share the same region they are truly different. Baltimore feels more older, grittier, urban, poorer, stagnant, yet authentic, hard-working, friendlier, and charming. DC feels newer, cleaner, cosmopolitan, richer, progressive but sterile, pretentious, and career/status driven. Their cores are never going to change. Baltimore can get richer and start to grow faster but it will always be urban and gritty at its core. It will grow more like Chicago or Philly in that regard - a blue collar based city but growing back somewhat into its past glory. DC is going to continue to attract America's best and brightest. It will always be new and fresh and pristine as long as the federal government continues to invest in it. It will be more like Boston or San Francisco - white collar cities that are at the forefront of the USA's 21st century economic growth.

Sorry I wrote a storybook lol. Just wanted to give a detailed opinion on the matter. It seems as thought a lot of people, especially those not from the area, seems to think that this is just one big DC area and that Baltimore for some odd reason is part of this greater DMV concoction lol (hint: we are NOT part of the DMV). Baltimore and DC are really two different cities with two different bases and styles in all categories. I see the influence of the cities more as clashing with each other than one overtaking the other.